Stacking machine



H. W. GABBERT STACKING MACHINE May 5, 1942.

4 Shee'ts-Sheet l Original Filed June 24, '1940 TGI May 5 1942- H. w. GABBERT 2,282,127

STACKING MACHINE Original Filed June 24, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG-2 66 INVENTOR HUGH W. GABBERT BY FIG. 3 6MM ATTORNEYS May 5, 1942. H. w. GABBERT STACKING MACHINE Original Filed June 24, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 usb |20 use..

INVENTOR HUGH W. GABBERT BY ATTORNEYS May 5, 1942.

H. W. GABBERT STACKING MACHINE Original Filed Jue 24, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 F|G.` e

NVENTOR HUGH w` GABBERT Ma/W ATTO R N EY Patentecl May 5, 1942 2,282,127 sTAcKiNG MACHINE Hugh W. Gabbert, Norwood, Ohio, assigner to The -American Laundry Machinery Company, Norwood, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Original application June 24, 1940, Serial No.

342,045. Divided and this application August 14, 1940, Serial No. 352,545

9 Claims.

tical stack by means of a conveyor which moves t the articles to the stack. and also raises the articles into positionin the stack; theprovision of a conveyor for moving articles to a stacking plate and positioned at an angle adjustable with A respect to the stacking plate so that-flimsy artis cles may be handled without'mussi'ng; the provi'- means for holding the 'articles elevated in the pile, together with means for simultaneously raising the stacking means and lowering the holding means so yas to more efficiently accomplish the stacking operation, and the provision ofv novel parts of the stacking mechanism and the stack holding means as will be later described.

Other objects and advantages vof the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and specification and the essential features thereof will be set forth in the claims.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is aside elevation of a combined folding and stacking machine embodyingmy invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmental detail view of the clutch mechanism taken substantially in the position of the line 2 2 of Fig. Fig. 3 is a partial sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a central longitudinal section taken toward the right end of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmental view of the clutch mechanism looking in the direction of the arrows 5 5 of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is an enlarged rear end elevation of the machine showing the stacking device; Fig. 7 is a detail view looking in the direction of the arrows 1 1 of Fig. 6; while Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the conveyor belt adjusting mechanism taken along the line 8 8 of Fig. 4.

In the embodiment of my invention here illustrated, the entire folding and stacking mechanism is supported on the general framework 20.

il!` sion of means for Vvertically stacking articles and This framework supports a table 1along which the article is moved for the longitudinal folding operation and which comprises in general a plate 2l which extends from the front of the machine to the point 22 (Fig. 4) toward the rear of the machine near the cross folding apparatus. As best seen in Fig. 1, this table extends first upwardly at a rather steep angle to provide the necessary elevation and thereafter downwardly past the wings which produce the longitudinal folds in the article. A conveyor belt 24 serves to carry the article throughthe longitudinal folding portion of the machine. This conveyor belt passes around a'drive roller 25 at the front of the machine, thence over the surface of the table 2|, over the roller 26 at the rear of the machine and returrps over the idler rollers 21 and 28 near the front of the machine.

'I'he means for crossfolding the article comprises the folding rollers 46 and 41. which are iournalled in brackets 48 vand 49 carried on the machine frame. The shaft 46a of 'roller 46 rides in slots in the supporting brackets and springs 50 yieldingly urge roller 46 toward roller 41 so as to permit'the passage of the article between the rollers. The drive for the folding rollers is shown in the above mentioned copendlng application. Referring to Fig. 4, the shaft of roller 26 (which is driven by conveyor belt 24) carries a sprocket.

which is connected by a chain with a sprocket which is secured to oneend of the shaft of roller 41.' On the other end of this shaft is the pinion 41h which meshes with pinion 4Gb carried by the shaft for roller 46 so that the folding rollers turn in unison` and in opposite directions.

The means for feeding the longitudinally folded article to the cross foldingrollers comprises a folding blade 54 mounted on arm 55 which is pivotally mounted on a portion of bracket 35. Means for actuating the folding blade is connected at the forward end of rod 51 which passes through an opening in the arm 55h and motion is transmitted from rod 51 to arm 55h through a coil spring 58 which is secured between the arm and thevcollar 59 on the end of the rod. As best seen in Fig. 2 the rod 51 extends to the front of the machine where it is pivotally connected to the free end of an arm 60 which in turn is pivotally mounted at 6| on a bracket 62 connected with the machine frame. On an intermediate portion of the arm is mounted'a roller 63 which coacts with a cam 64 which in turn is rigidly secured to a sleeve 65 (Fig. 3) Whichis freely rotatable on the shaft 66 which in turn is journalled in the machine frame. The drive means for cam 64 and sleeve 65 is a one-revolution clutch mechanism best shown in Fig. 2 which will presently be described. The actuation of this one-revolution clutch mechanism is controlled by the armature of solenoid 61, the energization of which is accomplished by finger 68 arranged in the path of the article as it moves along the auxiliary table portion 44 toward the rear of the machine.

The closing of the mercury switch 69 completes the energization of the solenoid 61 which is in circuit with the electrical supply lines for the machine driving motor 13 so as to initiate actuation of the clutch mechanism of Fig. 2. The drive for the folding apparatus is as follows: Motor 13 which is carried by the frame of the machine is connected by driving belt 14 with a pulley 15 on shaft 16 which is suitably journalled in the frame. A sprocket 11 on shaft 16 is connected by chain 18 with a sprocket 25a on the shaft of the conveyor drive roller 25. A pulley 19 on shaft 16 is connected by belt 80 with a pulley 8| on shaft 66. Keyed or pinned on shaft 66 is the toothed wheel 82 which therefore ro tates continuously. The one-revolution clutch mechanism of Fig. 2 comprises an arm 813 rigidly secured to sleeve 65 and in the present instance integral with the cam 64. A latch member 84 is pivotally connected to the free end of this arm. This latch member comprises portions 84a and 8427. 84a has a bifurcated end which supports a pin 85 adapted to engage between the teeth of wheel 82 and .biased toward engagement by the spring 86. The pin 85 is normally held out of engagement with the wheel teeth by means of a stop 81a on arm 81 which engages the portion 84h of the latch member. The arm 81 is pivotally mounted at 88 on a bracket 89 whichalso supports the solenoid 61. The armature 61a of the solenoid is pivotally connected to the free end of arm 81. When the leading end of the longitudinal folded article actuates switch 69 and energizes solenoid 61 the armature 61a is lifted so as to disengage the stop 81a from the latch member 84 which permits the pin 85 to engage between the teeth of wheel 82. The continuously rotating wheel then carries arm 83 and cam 64 through one revolution so as to actuate the folding blade 54 through arm 60, rod 51 and arm 55h.v This causes downward movement of blade 54, feeding the longitudinally folded article between the cross folding rolls. As soon as the article is moved out of engagement with the arm 68 the switch 69 is so constructed that it returns to its circuit-opening position thus deenergizing solenoid 61. The armature 61a therefore drops bringing stop 81a into the path of the latch member portion 84h so that when it has made one revolution the latch member strikes the stop and lifts the pin 85 out of. engagement with the wheel 82. l

The stacker mechanism comprises a combined chute and stacker plate |05 best seen in Fig. 4 which is carried by a frame structure which is mounted to freely oscillate about the shaft |06 supported by the machine frame. The plate |05 at its forward and upper end is substantially the full width of the folding machine channel so as to receive a folded article. At the point |01 (Figs. 4 and 8) the plate narrows and from there to the rear end of the plate the portion |05a extends between a pair of conveyor belts |08. These belts at their forward ends pass around pulleys |09 which rotate with shaft |06 and at their rearward ends pass around rollers ||0 which are adjustably supported in the stacker frame. The conveyor belts intersect the plane of the plate |05 at an angle, the conveyor belts lying above the plane of the plate at the point |01 and lying below the plane of the plate at the rear end of the stacker. The purpose of this arrangement is to provide a positive movement of the article as it enters the stacking apparatus and the driving force of the conveyor belts is gradually relieved as the article approaches the end of its movement along the stacking plate. Means is provided for varying the angularity of the delivery run of the belts |08 relative to the stacker plate. The means here shown comprises a pair of angles adjustably mounted on the plates 36 and 31. Lifting the belts at this point extends their carrying effect farther into the stacking device. This may be desirable in the case of heavier and stiffer articles. When the articles are lighter it may be .desirable to lower the belts so as to avoid any tendency to crumple the article as it moves into the stacker against the end stop.

Means is provided for supporting a pile of stacked articles above the free end of the stacker plate |05. This means comprises a pair of vertically extending plates I|2 on opposite sides of the pile and mounted for vertical reciprocation. The plates ||2 are guided by blocks ||3 which move loosely in slots ||4 which extend through the stack housing ||5 and registering slots in the housing support ||6. The blocks ||3 have larger cover blocks ||1 on their outer faces to hold the plates ||2 in position. f

Means is provided for reciprocating the stack holding plates ||2 downwardly as the free end of stacker plate |05 moves upwardly so that the individual movement of each of these portions of the stacker device is half of that which would be required of the stacker plate if it alone were required to move the folded article to position above the supporting plates 2. To this end the plates ||2 are carried by a yoke ||8 which is pivotally connected at its lower end to an arm ||9a of a T-shaped member ||9 which is pinned to a shaft |20 which in turn is journalled in brackets |2| connected with the frame. Another arm |9b is connected by the link |22 with the stacker plate |05. A third arm ||9c is pivotally connected with a rod |23 which extends to the forward end of the machine and is there connected with actuating mechanism to be later described.

To prevent oscillation of the pile of stacked articles each time a new article is added to the bottom of the pile, I provide auxiliary stack holding arms |24 which take over the `iob of holding the pile of stacked articles each time the arms |2 move downwardly from their uppermost position shown in Fig. 6. It will be noted that the upper ends of the arms ||2 are bent inwardly at ||2a which serves several purposes. As the folded article is moved above the arm portions ||2a by movement of the stacker plate the inwardly and upwardly inclined surfaces. of the portions ||2a guide the article smoothly past the arms ||2 and into the stack. At the same time they cam the auxiliary arms |24 outwardly as will presently appear. These auxiliary arms have prongs |24a which enter through suitable openings |25 in the housing ||5 so that the prongs engage against the arms ||2 and are yieldingly urged inwardly by coil springs |26. Thus when the arms |I2 move down the prong portions |24a slide inwardly along the arm portions |2a beneath the lowest article in the stack and remain there until th-e arm portions ||2a again return to their uppermost position at which time the prongs |24 are again cammed outwardly and the stack is again supported by the arm portions ||2a. Referring to Figs. 4 and 7, it will be noted that the upper edges of the arm portions ||2a slope downwardly and toward the rear in such a fashion that they are substantially alined with the plane of the stacker plate when the plate |05 and the arm portions ||2a pass each other in opposite directions at the time a new article is placed at the bottom of the stack.

Means is provided for counting the articles in the stack and marking the stacked articles in numbered groups by positioning an article out of line with the rest of the stack. To this end a stop |21 normally extends upwardly through a suitable opening in plate |05 and most of the articles are stopped against the member |21. At predetermined intervals this stop is moved downwardly permitting one article to move against the end stop |28 thus causing one article to extend beyond the normal line of the stack. The mechanism for accomplishing this is best seen in Figs. 4 and '1. A ratchet wheel |29 is rotatably mounted on the outside of the stacker frame on a shaft |30. A generally Z-shape lever |3| is mounted for free oscillation on the shaft |30 and is biased in upward position by means of spring |32. Pivotally mounted on the lever |3| is a ratchet pawl |33 urged by the fiat spring |34 into engagementwith the ratchet wheel. The arm |3| a of the lever |3| extends into engagement with an arm |35 which is rigidly attached to shaft |20 which oscillates each time the stacker plate is reciprocated. The motion of lever |3| `at each operation of the stacker is sufiicient to move the ratchet wheel one tooth. A detent |29 holds the ratchet wheel against retrograde movement. The inner end of shaft |30 is bent upwardly at |30a at right angles to the portion of the shaft |30 upon which the ratchet wheel is mounted. 'Ihus the end |30a moves in a circle by increments as the ratchet wheel advances one tooth 'at a time. In one position of the shaft |30 shown in dot-dash lines in Fig. 4 it lies beneath a finger |36 which is a rigid extension of the arm |21a which carries the stop |21. Thus when the shaft |30a is in the dotdash position of Fig. 4 when the stacker plate returns to its lowermost position the finger |36 is moved in a clockwise direction against the bias of flat spring |31 causing clockwise movement of stop |21 below the top surface of plate |05 permitting one article to move beyond that point and against the stop |28. After the next stacking operation the shaft |30a has moved out of engagement with the finger |36 and the next article strikes the stop |21 as before. Thus each group of articles is counted and marked in a manner determined by the number of teeth in the ratchet wheel |29.

Mechanism is provided for actuating the stacker plate |05 and the arms ||2 in timed relation to the movement of the folding blade 54 each time an article passes through the machine. Some time is consumed in the travel of the article from the cross folding rollers 46 and 41 to position in the stacking device and therefore some mechanism is required to delay the operation of the stacking device after the operation of the folding blade 54 to permit this time for article travel. Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the rod |23 which actuates the stacker mechanism extends forwardly in the machine where it is pivotally connected at |38 to an arm |39 which is pivotally supported on the machine frame at |40. A spring |4| biases the arm in a direction to return the stacker plate to its lowermost position. The arm |23 extends beyond the pivot point |38 and supports a roller |42 which coactswith a cam |43 which is rigidly mounted on thelsleeve |44 (Fig. 3) which is freely rotatable on the shaft 66. Rotatable with the shaft 66 is a toothed wheely |45 which is in all respects similar rto the wheel 82 previously described in connection with the folding mechanism. Rigidly fastened to the sleeve 65 is a cam |46 which is adjusted to a predetermined position relative to the cam 64 which controls the cross folding blade 54. This cam |46 actuates an arm |41 which is rigidly fastened to a shaft |48 suitably journalled in the frame. One end of this shaft at |48a is bent at right angles and is adapted to initiate the action of a one-revolution clutch mechanism in exactly the same manner as the solenoid 61 initiates the action of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2. This duplicate mechanism is best seen in Fig. 1 and comprises an arm |49 rigidly fastened to the sleeve |44 and carrying a latch mechanism |50 exactly like the latch mechanism 84 previously described. This normally engages a stop on the arm |5| which performs the same functions as the arm 81 previously described. Since the other parts of this clutch mechanism are all exactly similar to those already described in connection with Fig. 2, it is thought further description here is unnecessary. A pulley |52 rotatable with shaft 66 is connected by belt |53 with a pulley |54 on shaft |06 and serves to drive the conveyor belts in the stacker.

The operation of the stacker mechanism is as follows: Thecam |46 oscillates lever |41 a predetermined time after cam 64 has caused an operation of the folding blade 54. This oscillates the portion |48a of shaft |48 causing arm |5| to remove the stop from the latch mechanism |50. This causes the latch mechanism to latch the arm |49 to the toothed wheel |45 and cause one revolution of the sleeve |44 and cam |43 which moves the rod |23 rearwardly causing oscillation of the T-shape member I| 9 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 4 so as to raise the stacker plate |05 and to lower the stack supporting arms ||2 causing a movement of an article into the stack. Further movement of the cam |43 permits the spring |4| to return the stacker plate to its lowermost position while moving the arms ||2 to their uppermost position.

What I claim is:

1..Stacking apparatus comprising a stacking plate, means for holding a stack of articles above said plate, a conveyor movable with said plate, and said conveyor extending from a point above said plate to a point below said plate, whereby to deliver articles to said plate.

2. Stacking apparatus comprising a stacking plate, means for holding a stack of articles above said plate, a belt conveyor having a delivery run for delivering articles to said plate and lying in a plane intersecting the plane of said plate, and the higher end of said belt being the more remote from said plate.

3. Stacking apparatus comprising a stacking plate, means for holding a stack of articles above said plate, a belt conveyor having a delivery run for delivering articles to said plate and lying in a plane intersecting the plane of said plate, the higher end of said belt being the more remote from said plate, and means for varying the angular relation between the delivery run of said belt and said stacker plate whereby to deliver various types of fabric article to said plate in smooth condition.

4. Stacking apparatus comprising a vertically reciprocable stacker plate, vertically reciprocable parallel arms extending above said plate, said arms having their upper ends bent inwardly to underlie a stack of articles, auxiliary arms positioned near the upper ends of said ilrst named arms, means urging said auxiliary arms to a position beneath said stack of articles, means connected with said reciprocable arms for moving said auxiliary arms out from beneath said stack when said reciprocable arms move to their uppermost position, and means for lowering said iirst named arms and for simultaneously raising said stacker plate. v

5. Apparatus for stacking articles in a vertical stack comprising a stacker plate movable up and down, vertically reciprocable parallel arms extending above said plate and positioned at opposite sides of the stack, said arms having their upper ends bent inwardly and upwardly, auxiliary arms positioned near the upper ends of said first named arms and spring pressed inwardly, said auxiliary arms engaging the outer faces of said first named arms when the latter are in their uppermost position, and means for reciprocating said first named arms and said stacker plate so that each moves up as the other moves down, said movements being sufficient for said plate to move an article thereon to a point above the upper ends of said first named arms.

6. Stacking apparatus comprising a stacker plate pivotally mounted at one end, arms extending above the free end of said plate and spaced on opposite sides thereof, said arms having their upper ends bent inwardly to underlie a stack of articles -above the free end of said plate, means for oscillating said plate upwardly and for moving said arms downwardly to cause an article upon the free end of said plate to pass above the upper ends of ksaid arms.

7. `Stacking apparatus for placing an article on the bottom of a vertical stack comprising a vertically reciprocable stacker plate, arms located above said plate on each side thereof holding said stack and receiving and holding an article elevated by said plate. and means for lowering said arms and `for simultaneously raising said stacker plate, whereby to position an article above said arms and at the bottom of said stack with limited plate movement.

8. The combination of claim 7 with means underlying said stack of articles for supporting said stack in xed position above said arms while said arms are lowered.

9. Stacking apparatus comprising a combined endless belt conveyor and stacker plate adapted to receive an article at one point and to stack the article at another point along the path of article travel, said conveyor delivering the article to said plate at Asaid point, means for holding a stack of articles over said vconveyor at said stacking point, and means for raising said plate in timed relation to the deposit of an article on said combined conveyor and plate at said receiving point, whereby to raise the article into said stack when the conveyor belt has brought it into position beneath said stack.

HUGH W. GABBERT. 

